I only recently began visiting this site recently due to Battlelore. (Wanted to keep up with what was happening there.) Out of curiosity I began checking out the other games. (Yes I've owned FF games for a while, but never felt the need to visit their site for information on them.) Anyway here I am looking about and BAM Cosmic Encounter is being released again, (Yea, Yea I've been in a dark hole for a while as far as games go.). This time by FF. Awesome, I always respected FF's ability to produce a quality game, so I immediately began looking forward to this.

Of course as soon as I wish to begin browsing the forum discussions about this game, FF decides to do a website revamp. Now all the forums postings are gone. Great no information except what is available in the games description really. So why did I explain all this? Because I want to know the following and am trying not to sound like an inconsiderate newb too lazy to read a little background before posting.

1) I know the release date has probably not been confirmed, but is it likely to get this before Christmas, after, or absolutely no clue at this point?

2) What are the biggest changes from the previous versions, (if any), that have been confirmed?

3) Will it be available for preorder from FF directly, or only from vendors?

4) Any images of the game or components available currently, other than what is in the games description?

Thank you for any assistance provided.

Astinex said:

i secound the question regarding the release date! i hope it will be out this year...

as far as i have gathered the game is closer to the 'not hasbro' versions of the game (which is a good thing in my book).

the base game will include 50 aliens (with flares) and some 'tech' cards which seem to be something new.

i have no idea why the availability of this game would differ from any other FFG title.

did you see the preview images of the alien races? they put up 5-6 allready and the plan was to publish an alien once a week until release.

hope this helps a little (and i did not make any blatant mistakes), i am waiting for this game eagerly...

It should hopefully start shipping in a week!

There are a few more images on the Boardgamegeek site: http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/15

This version is kind of a nice mix of the best of both Eon and Mayfair's edition..... you have the Flares that you don't have to discard after playing, and you have the destiny deck of cards. It supports 5 players from the get-go, but should be expanding in the next year (fingers and tentacles crossed). The aliens are also a nice mix of old and new.

Also, if you want to see the old forums (they aren't actually read-only yet but the CE one has been dead since the new site went online), go to http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/ffgforums/forums/show/100.page . That's the CE one and you can go up a level from there if you want the rest.

Thank you MarkHB.

(That's all I would have said, but apparently there's a minimum word count on posting.)

The Warp said:

Kevin has confirmed that the first expansion will contain bits for the sixth player. the reason it was not included in the first place was entirely because of budget issues. (there are already tons of bits and cards in CE with just five players)